


The Adventures of Rose, the Baker's Daughter

by aparticularbandit



Category: Jane the Virgin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Thumbelina Fusion, F/F, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Retellings, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-12-18 16:18:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18253418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aparticularbandit/pseuds/aparticularbandit
Summary: Once upon a time, there was a baker and her husband.  The two of them wished desperately for a child of their own.  Sometimes, the baker would make children out of bread and sprinkle it with something she called magic dust (even though it was really just a different kind of flower) and hope that a real child would come about, and her husband, who was a carpenter, would make wooden dolls and puppets and wish on the morning star for them to be made real.  Neither of these could make their wishes come true.Then, one day, the baker found a flower....





	1. Chapter 1

Once upon a time, there was a baker and her husband.  The two of them wished desperately for a child of their own.  Sometimes, the baker would make children out of bread and sprinkle it with something she called magic dust (even though it was really just a different kind of flower) and hope that a real child would come about, and her husband, who was a carpenter, would make wooden dolls and puppets and wish on the morning star for them to be made real.  Neither of these could make their wishes come true.

Then one day, while she was tending to her rose bush outside, picking petals for tea and nearby sprigs of lavender for biscuits, the baker found a bulb that was completely different from any she’d ever seen before breaking through the ground just under the red roses.  At first, she intended to watch it carefully over a matter of days, to see if there was any change, but then she decided instead to transplant it to a pot of its own and move it into the window in her bakery.  There, she could still watch over it, but she could do so without fear that the bulb might turn into something more menacing, like a baobab tree.  
  
Days passed, and days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, and there was no change with the little red bulb.  Its color deepened over time, and it seemed to be healthy, even if unchanged.  Despite her husband’s constant suggestion that she abandon the plant, the baker made sure to keep it watered and turned toward the sun, so that its rays would warm and keep the plant safe.  And all throughout this time, the baker and her husband continued to hope and pray for a child of their own.

Almost a year passed, and it’s been said in some circles that it must have, before there was any other change in the plant.  The baker knew it was close because the blooms outside had finally begun to open again, as they had when she first found the little red bulb, and it’s something she would mention when asked, when she ran into others who thought maybe _they_ had a plant like hers (although they rarely, if ever, did).

The baker came down early in the morning, before the sun rose, rubbing her eyes with one hand crumpled into a fist, and went first to the little red bulb with a pitcher of water to give it something to drink.  But as she went to the flower, she noticed that one of its petals was slowly beginning to unfurl.  So she watered it then went about her work, watching it and distracted as it continued to open its full bloom.

Then, just as the sun crested the horizon, the baker saw the flower open completely, and there, in the very center of the bloom, was a tiny, crying, child!  She went over to the child at once and scooped the tiny being out of the flower, holding her close to her chest.  The child was no bigger than a baby mouse and had a sprig of red hair cropping up at the top of her head.  Her face was sprinkled with freckles like stars across her nose and arms, and the baker fell in love with her at once.  She began to feed the child with drops of milk, like she would a mouse, and the child quieted.  When the baker’s husband arose, he came downstairs to find the baker cradling and rocking the child, who had fallen asleep in her hand.

The carpenter set to work crafting a tiny cradle for the child, and the baker set it in her bakery, just next to the bloom.  She watched over the child as she grew, adopting her as her own, and her husband, the carpenter, did much the same, crafting what she would need out of wood.  Neither were well versed in fabric or making clothes, but the carpenter took tiny little wooden dolls to toy stores and bought clothes that fit the dolls.  They kept the child hidden as much as they could, for fear that they would be dubbed insane for mentioning her or that the child would be taken from them if she were to be found.

But the child never noticed any of this and went on many adventures in the little bakery where she lived.  She knew that the baker and the carpenter loved her, and while a part of her wanted to go outside of her house, it was vast enough that she would not have known what she was missing if not for the window by which her cradle, and eventually bed, was set.

And the baker called the child Rose, after the bushes under which her bloom was found.


	2. Chapter 2

As she grew, Rose became much more adventurous.  She had the carpenter make her a little sword and shield, along with a knight’s helmet, after one too many stories the baker told her about princes and princesses.  She was determined to never be a damsel in distress and to be able to protect herself no matter what happened.  She spent weeks wearing the helmet, and even when she decided to no longer wear it, she kept her wooden sword strapped to her back and her shield much the same.  Eventually, the baker brought her a tiny easel and set of paints, and instead of painting on the little canvases, Rose designed her own coat of arms on the back of her shield and made her sword an even, steely gray.  When the baker saw it, she laughed and encouraged her daughter to continue creating.

Rose’s hair grew in tangled curls and she kept it cropped to chin length because it was easier to keep tamed.  The baker gave her little dots of gold to wear in her ears, but Rose didn’t like to wear them except to sometimes make the baker happy.  She was given dresses and skirts, as well as a wardrobe in which to keep them, but she begged for tunics and leggings and _pants_.  These she was given, although the baker found books with print taller than Rose describing how to gird the long skirts and dresses so that she could look pretty and feminine and still be ready to attack.  Then Rose felt a little better about the girly clothes, even if she only wore them on the same special occasions that she wore the dots of gold.

One day, Rose woke to the sound of something like a startled crying.  She arose from her bed, clothed herself in a tunic and pants, put on her boots, and strapped her sword and shield to her back.  Then she clambered down the woven rope dangling from her window to the floor and went in search of the sound.  As she drew closer and the crying grew louder, Rose pulled out her sword – not afraid of what she might find, but wanting to always be prepared.  She finally drew to the shadows next to one of the bakery’s cupboards.  It was so dark there that she could barely see a thing!  As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, there was a loud gasp! and the crying stopped entirely.

Rose crept closer.  Something sped past her – she felt the wind against her freckled cheek – and grabbed her shield!  She whirled to meet it with her wooden sword pointed outward.  It tapped against the back of her shield, and she narrowed her eyes, still trying to see.

“This is good!” a voice right in front of her exclaimed.  “I’ve never seen a coat of arms like this before!  Who is your lord?”

“I am my own lord,” Rose said, wary.  “Now give me back my shield.”

The shield moved forward against her sword.  “You can lower your sword.  I won’t hurt you.”

“I don’t know that.”  Rose took her shield, wearing it on her left arm.  “I can’t see you.  I don’t know if I can trust you or not.”

“You can’t see me at all?”

But as the voice spoke again, Rose’s eyes finally adjusted enough for her to make out the shape of a figure much like herself.  The girl was closer than Rose could have imagined, face right in her own, examining her!  Rose stumbled backwards, unable to get the image of those hazel eyes out of her head.  The girl laughed!  If this were like one of the baker’s stories, it would’ve been a bright, tinkling sound, like she would expect from a fairy, but since it wasn’t like one of those stories, the laughter was darker, huskier, as though pulled from deep within the back of her throat.  The fairy girl fell over backwards with her laughter, clutching her sides but still kept aloft with the slow beating of her wings.

Rose couldn’t see what her wings looked like, but she could see the outline of them shimmering like dust molecules in rays of light.

“You’re a fairy,” Rose said, finally making out the girl’s dark hair pulled back into a braid, the bright colors of her dress which looked so faded in the shadows, and as the girl straightened up in the air, she saw something shine on the top of her head – a tiara!  “The queen of the fairies!” Rose exclaimed, and she immediately knelt before her.

“Not the queen,” the girl said, and she grabbed one of Rose’s hands, tugging her back up.  “Just a princess.”

“ _Just_ a _princess_ ,” Rose repeated with awe.

“Did you design this yourself?” the fairy princess asked, floating over to Rose’s shield again.  She ran a finger along the vine of the rose then tapped once on the crisscrossing rolling pin and flatiron pan.  “It’s really good.  The best coat of arms I’ve ever seen!”

“I, yeah, all by myself.”  Rose grinned.  “My mom’s a baker, and she’s the one who got me interested in princesses and knights and—”

“Princesses?”

“Yeah.  They always get themselves into trouble and I never wanted to be like that.”

“Oh.”  The fairy seemed to drop, clasping her hands behind her back.  She turned away from Rose and flew back into the furthest corner of the room.

“I didn’t mean to offend you, princess—” and here Rose _stopped_ , realizing she’d never asked for the princess’s name.  She fumbled for a bit, until finally the princess supplied it—

“—Luisa.”

“Luisa.”  It was a nice name.  Rose had never heard of a name like that.  She liked it.  “You probably don’t _ever_ get yourself into trouble,” she continued, strapping her sword and shield back to her back and chasing after her.  “Just in those stories—”

“I get myself into trouble all the time.”  Luisa was curled up on the floor, legs pulled against her chest.  She sniffed once.  “I’m in trouble now.”

“Were you the one I heard crying?”

Luisa looked up and nodded once.  “I got caught in the window while the big human lady was closing it.  My wing’s torn.”  She curled one wing forward so that Rose could see the thin rip in the bottom right corner.

“But you were flying earlier!”

Luisa shrugged.  “It’s not the same.  If I go outside on the winds like this, it’ll make the tear worse.  My wing’ll heal, but until then, I have to stay here.”

“That’s not so bad.”  Rose sat down on the ground next to the fairy princess.  “That big human lady’s my mom.  She can take care of you if you want.  I’ll just have to let her know—

“No!” Luisa interrupted, her eyes wide.  “She can’t know!  Fairies are secret from humans.  They can’t know about us!”

“Why not?”

“Some humans are nice, like your parents maybe.  But a lot of them would take us and make us do whatever they wanted.  Or they’d kill us all.  It’s better to just sometimes do nice things for the nice ones and not have them know.  It’s safer that way.”

“I guess.”  Rose pulled up her knees to her chest to try and mimic the princess, but after a while, she realized that was uncomfortable and switched to sitting cross-legged instead.  “So you’re a damsel in distress.”

“Yeah.  My parents are gonna be terrified.  They hate when I go missing.”

“This isn’t the first time?”

“No.”  Luisa shook her head once then lowered it, ashamed.  “I get into trouble a lot.”

Rose grinned, sticking her tongue in between her teeth with mischief.  “Then you need a good knight to protect you!”

Luisa turned to look at Rose and, seeing her bright grin, couldn’t help but smile back.  “Yeah.  I guess I do.”

“So let me take care of you while you’re here,” Rose said.  “I can get food from my parents and bring it to you.  I’ve got a ton of pillows and extra blankets so that you can keep safe while you sleep.”  She pursed her lips.  “But you can’t sleep on the floor.  Sometimes there are mice and other animals and I don’t think you’ll be safe down here.”

“I can sleep where you sleep,” the princess said, then immediately continued, “because it’d be better to be with my knight than to be on the floor and I can hide real quick if I hear one of the humans coming.  Just as long as they don’t see me.”

Rose nodded.  “I’ve got a wardrobe.  If you hear them, you can hide in it!  Or under my bed.  There’s enough room.  I’ve done that before sometimes when I want them to think I’m out exploring.”

“Ok!”  Luisa beamed.  “I’ll come up when it gets dark!  When the humans have gone to bed.”

“Just climb up the rope.”

Luisa beat her wings once.  “I can fly, silly.  I don’t have to worry about that.”

“Oh.  Right.”  Rose giggled.  “I should go now,” she said, frowning.  “Mom’ll get worried if I’m missing too long.  But I’ll make sure to keep some of my food for you, so that you can eat something when you come find me.”

“Of course!”

So Rose returned to her windowsill.  Instead of spending more time exploring after seeing the baker again, she decided to stay in the sill and practice her foot work, her sword techniques.  She wondered if the fairy princess would laugh on seeing her like this.  But she was determined!  If she was going to protect the princess, then she needed to be stronger!  Better!

But she practiced so hard and so rough that she was too exhausted to stay awake.  Luisa found her conked out in her bed, all sprawled out with drool in the corner of her mouth.  The sight of her knight like that made her laugh!  She grabbed the food that was left for her and sat on the edge of the bed to eat.  Even in her sleep, Rose moved over and made space, and when the fairy princess finally curled up to sleep, she pressed a kiss on Rose’s cheek.  Then she turned away and closed her eyes, and the pair slept back-to-back as though each were keeping watch for the other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look, it's a Luisa fairy. ^^


	3. Chapter 3

It didn’t take long for Luisa’s wing to heal.  The two girls were very careful, and although there were a few close scrapes, not once did the baker or the carpenter notice she was there.  Rose took Luisa on her explorations around the bakery, avoiding the floor where her parents lived, and showed her the holes where ants and mice sometimes crawled through.  She demonstrated how she would use her sword and shield to fight them if she could, and the fairy princess clapped with excitement.  Rose almost wished there _were_ pests so that she could prove herself instead of just showing off.  But the fact that the princess – a real live princess! – was so entertained by her made her feel all warm inside.

When Luisa asked about the flower blooming by her bedside, Rose explained that she was born wrapped in its petals, that her mother had found the bulb one day growing beneath one of their rose bushes.  Luisa’s eyes had brightened, then, as she made the connection to Rose’s name, something that Rose had finally told her the first time she’d woken to find the fairy princess in bed with her, and she’d pulled on Rose’s shield again, tapping the rose vine.

“So _that’s_ why there’s a rose!”  She’d laughed.  “Other than your _name_ , of course.”

Rose had flushed a bright scarlet beneath the freckles dotting her cheeks and not so subtly changed the subject.  She liked hearing the fairy princess laugh, of course, but she didn’t really like feeling like the princess was laughing at her.  For a tiny little girl who had never left the comfort of her bakery (and had never really considered doing so), she felt as though her previously imagined vast realms of knowledge were absolutely nothing and useless compared to what the princess of the fairies must know.  After that, she’d been careful not to say anything that sounded too foolish.

The fairy princess hadn’t seemed to notice.

But when her wing had finally healed, Luisa had flapped it once, hovering above the windowsill, then sped about the room with a bright grin.  At first, Rose was content to watch, but when she sighed, Luisa whirled back and picked her up, dragging her around the room.  Rose laughed and was careful to keep from letting out the whoop that would wake her parents if they heard it.  So instead she giggled and clung tight to the princess, overwhelmed and excited to be flying, even if the wings weren’t her own.

Then, Luisa stopped, floating in the middle of the room, and kissed her!

Rose was shocked!

Luisa pulled back almost immediately, her cheeks darkening with a deep blush, wings beating slowly to keep them aloft.  “Sorry,” she said.  “That wasn’t very fair of me.”  She flew Rose back to her windowsill and placed her down very, very carefully.  “Sorry.”

“No.”  Rose smiled.  “It was nice.”

“Was it?”

Luisa brightened again at once and flew closer to Rose.  She brushed their noses together than moved back again.  “When I leave, you should come with me.”

“Come with you?”  Rose hadn’t considered that.  All at once, she felt warm and excited.  “Really?  I could do that?”

“Of course!”  Luisa grinned.  “The princess needs her knight, after all!”

Rose almost said yes.  She wanted to!  She wanted to go with the princess, to go outside and see the real world!  And the kingdom of the fairies!  There was so much she wanted to see and do!

But she hesitated.

“What would I tell my parents?” she asked.  “They can’t know that you exist.  My mother would be so afraid.”  She ran a hand along her wooden sword.  “And this…this is only made of wood.  It wouldn’t be able to protect you from real steel.  I’m not really a knight, you know.”

“But you could be,” Luisa said, “if you came with me.”

Rose wanted to consider it.  The idea of being a real knight, with a real sword and a real shield, with a helmet and armor and a magical horse (or maybe not a magical horse.  What did the fairies use?  They had wings.  They didn’t need them, then, did they?  She had so many questions!  There was so much the princess had not said) – all of that excited her!  Maybe she could just go for a little visit?  She could come back and see her parents later?  But she knew if she really left with Luisa now, she probably wouldn’t come back at all.

Rose shook her head.  “I can’t.”  She looked up, brows furrowed.  “I can’t just disappear.”

“You could leave them a note!”

“No,” Rose shook her head again and shifted, sitting down _hard_ on the edge of her bed.  “They’ve been so good to me.  It wouldn’t be fair.  And I can’t fly.”

“I can fly you.”

“Not all that way, not with your wing just healed.”

It was only then that Luisa frowned.  “I’ll come back for you, then,” she said.  “I’ll bring one of our flying steeds.  There are plenty of people like you without wings.  And then—”

“No,” Rose said again.  She looked up and met Luisa’s eyes and saw that there were tears in them.  “I don’t plan on staying here my entire life, but I can’t leave yet.  Maybe, when I do ,I’ll see you again.”

Luisa tried to smile.  “Maybe I’ll be queen by then.”

“Maybe.”

Rose moved from the bed and knelt in front of the princess.  She took one of the princess’s hands and kissed her knuckles.  “Don’t miss your knight too long, my princess.”

Luisa giggled.  “I won’t.”

“And here,” Rose took the shield from her back and handed it to the princess.  “You need a shield of your own, in case you are in danger again.”  She grinned.  “I’d give you my sword, but I’m afraid you’d just hurt yourself with it.”

“I probably would,” Luisa said, giggling again.  Then she fluttered down and kissed Rose’s forehead, wings beating gently behind her.  “Thank you for taking care of me.  I’ll make sure you’re rewarded for this, if you ever make it to my kingdom.”

“Thank you.”

Then Rose went to her window and cracked it open.  There was a strong rush of air, but Luisa maintained her position.  She looked down to Rose and smiled, then flew through the window off into the night sky.  Rose left the window open for a while, as if that would make her feel better about her decision, and when it didn’t, she finally shut and latched it closed again.  Then she curled up in her bed, facing the window, tucked beneath her little bloom.

The next night, Rose arose to the sounds of something tapping against her window, but when she looked outside, there was no one there.  Instead, there was a ball of white like a spider’s nest clinging to a large leaf, one that hadn’t been there before.  At first, Rose decided to ignore it, but then the wind ruffled what looked like a letter sticking to the other side of the leaf.  She cracked the window open and pulled the leaf with its note inside.  Then she took the note and, on deciphering the fancy, looping writing, was excited to find the princess had written her a letter!

 _To my knight,_ it said, _for whenever you decide to start your journey.  This is Miss Lint – or Lint, for short!  I’ve been taking care of her for a long time, and she cocooned while I was gone.  When you leave, put her somewhere in a warmer temperature a few hours before your journey, and you’ll have a flying steed of your own!  It’ll take a bit for her wings to work, though, so you’ve_ got _to be careful!  Don’t let your parents see her, or they might think she’s spiders or some other eggs or something bad!  She’s not!  And she’s yours!_

_Lint liked leaves when I was taking care of her, but when she comes out of her cocoon, she’s going to be more interested in nectar I think!  Don’t work her too hard!_

_And come see me!  As soon as you can!  Lint knows the way!_

_Your princess,_

_Luisa!_

Rose held the letter tight in her hand, reading through it a few times to make sure she got everything.  Then she folded it up carefully and hid it under her pillow where her parents wouldn’t be able to find it.  She shut the window with a click and looked at the little cocoon stuck to the inside of the leaf.  At first, she wasn’t sure where to hide it – _her, Miss Lint, Lint_ – it was hard to call a cocoon by name, and she kept thinking of it being something super fuzzy.  But she had no idea what she would look like when she came out!

Then Rose remembered a little crack in the wall.  She hadn’t been keeping much there, but it’d been an easy place to store some of the secret things she found while exploring.  Little rocks and seeds and Luisa, once, when the baker was loud enough for them to get her somewhere more comfortable than the wardrobe or under her bed.  She put the cocoon in there.  It filled the rest of the space!  Then she covered the crack as she always did, so that her parents wouldn’t find it.

Rose lay in her bed for a while after that, eyes focused on the ceiling and then outside the window, and when she slept, she dreamed of what the fairy kingdom might look like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't judge my Miss Lint reference. It just kind of happened. Sorry, I'm not sorry. I might throw more references in later because why not?
> 
> I do have a general idea for her design, but also, like, probably not going to necessarily keep with the specific time lengths and stuff because fairy tale and fairy-raised bug so they probably bred them to live longer. SO. THERE. ^^


	4. Chapter 4

She didn’t have long to wait.

Rose tried to continue about life as normal, but it was hard.  She’d spent so much time with Luisa over the past few weeks, even when they were hiding from the baker and her husband, that now the solitude felt horrible.  Being in a bed right next to the window made it even worse, and while before she’d mostly stared in on her small world before falling asleep, now she stared out the window, watching the stars and the plants and the wide world outside, dreaming of the day she’d finally be able to leave.

It took all of her courage, but Rose started to bring up the idea to the baker.  But the baker’s face grew white, and no matter how much Rose tried to tell her that she could take care of herself, as long as she had her trusty sword and shield, the baker refused.  Rose even gritted her teeth and brought it up with the carpenter!  He was a little more reasonable, listening to how much she’d practiced with her sword and shield, how she’d explored every nook and cranny in the bakery and was beginning to grow bored with her surroundings, and when she was done, he nodded once and continued on like normal.  This frustrated her even more than trying to talk with the baker!  It felt like he was just ignoring her!  She kicked her little foot on the wooden sill and grimaced because that _hurt_ but didn’t do anything to him!

So Rose started spending more time, sullen, sitting on the edge of her bed instead of exploring as she’d spent so much of her time doing before.  Her boredom grew, and she continued to fantasize about what might be going on in the real world.  Even if it _wasn’t_ the fairy kingdom, there was so much more than one building!  Sure, she was tiny, but she could take care of herself!  She’d killed mice and ants and – not spiders because she actually liked them – but other pests around the bakery!  Even with just her wooden sword!  The real world couldn’t be any worse than that!

Could it?

Then, after a particularly horrible fight with her mother, Rose awoke to a loud crash and sound like an explosion.  Something large had been thrown through the window, and glass covered the sill.  Most of what had landed on her had hit the blanket, but some shards had sliced her cheeks.  She shook as much as she could off of her blanket then wrapped her feet with it to protect them while she made her way to the wardrobe.  A loud pounding came at the door, and although she changed into her tunic and pants, pulled on her boots, and strapped her shield to her arm and drew her sword, Rose found the little crack in the wall where she’d hid Lint’s cocoon and where she’d once hid Luisa and hid herself away, covering the crack so that she could not be seen the way nothing in there could.

It was from her little hiding spot that she heard loud noises!  First, there came a pounding at the front door, then a crash as it broke down!  There were loud stomps and beats, and then loud _screams_.  Rose covered her ears with her hands and leaned against the wall and shut her eyes and hoped that if she tuned everything all out it would go away and not really be happening.

Eventually, all of the sounds faded away, but Rose stayed hidden, just in case.  She shivered, shook, quivered.  It was only when the silence continued and she stopped shaking that she crept out of the crack in the wall.

There were shards of glass and busted pieces of wood everywhere.  Rose took the rope down from her windowsill and crept through the bakery, unable to avoid stepping on the glass and cracking it.  She kept her little wooden sword drawn, her shield strapped to her arm, so that she might defend herself.  But she’d hidden for so long, that it appeared there was nothing left to defend herself from.  Still, she was cautious as she continued through the bakery, and it was only when she saw the carpenter sprawled bloody on the floor that she rushed at all.

She ran to him!

The carpenter was breathing heavily, but when he saw Rose, he struggled into a sitting position.  He held his hand out for her, and she climbed on top of it.  Then he brought her up to his face.  It was only then that Rose began to feel ashamed.  She sheaved her sword on her back and hung her head.  “I didn’t defend you,” she said before the carpenter could say anything.

“You kept yourself safe.”

“I’m supposed to be a _knight_.  I’m supposed to protect you.”  Rose lifted her head and glanced around the room.  “Where’s Mom?  Is _she_ okay?”

The carpenter took Rose with him as he limped about the house, but despite their searching, the baker was nowhere to be seen!  Rose yelled for her as loud as she could, but no matter what she did, they couldn’t find her.  “They must have taken her,” Rose said, her voice soft and afraid.

“I don’t know about all that,” the carpenter started to say, pulling on his chin.

Rose shook her head.  “It’s just like in the stories.  They took her.  And I have to get her back!”  She turned to look at the carpenter, fierceness dancing like fire in her eyes.  “I’ve got a sword and a shield.  I can take care of myself.  You stay here, in case she comes back.”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“I _have_ to go!” Rose said, stamping her little foot.  “You aren’t a knight, and it was my job to protect you, and I failed, and now she’s gone, so I have to go be a knight and redeem myself!  I _have_ to go out and find her!  It has to be me!”

The carpenter set her carefully back on the windowsill, and the wind blew through the broken window something fierce.  “You stay here,” he said.  “Let me think on it.”

But Rose had already decided, and after the carpenter went back upstairs, she went back to the crack in the wall where she’d hidden Lint’s cocoon and pulled it out, moving it over to a warmer spot.  Then she sat in front of it, staring at the little cotton-like substance stuck to the leaf, and waited for Lint to emerge.  Eventually, her eyes began to droop, and she closed them.  She dozed until she heard a scritch-scratching sound against the inside of the cocoon.  She opened her eyes with a start, just in time to see one long leg poking through the bundle!  As she watched, a large, fluffy white moth with thick pink antennae climbed out of the cocoon!  It carefully drew out its wings – large, thin, spring green in color with a little eye in the top two wings made of deep brownish red and white and another, smaller one, in the bottom two wings – and held them out.

“Lint?” Rose asked carefully.  “Miss Lint?”

The moth turned its great black eyes toward her in acknowledgement, and Rose imagined that she smiled at her.  She heard Lint chirrup once, even as she stood unmoving.

Waiting on her wings, Rose supposed, and while she sat there with her, waiting, the carpenter came back downstairs, carrying something carefully in the palm of his hand.  He placed his hand down on the windowsill.  “For you,” he said, and when he opened his clenched fist, there was a real steel knife and shield!  They were plainer than the wooden ones she’d carried for so long, but they were the perfect size for a tiny little girl like Rose!

Rose gasped and grabbed them at once, holding the sword in her hand to check the balance almost as soon as the shield was strapped on her back, the new leather sheath beneath it.  “Where did you get these?”

“As soon as you started talking about going out in the real world, I thought to myself, you needed a real set of these.  I was going to bring it up with Marie, but—”  His voice faltered, and he rubbed his temples with one hand, pulled at his hair.  “If you’re going out to find her, it’d be better for you to be real equipped.”  Then his eyes turned to the moth, whose wings were almost ready.  “Where’d you get that?”

“She was a gift,” Rose said, with an all too fond smile, “from a friend.”

“Didn’t know you could make friends in here.”

Rose shrugged.  She figured it was fine to make mention as long as she didn’t tell him her friend was a fairy or that there was a fairy kingdom.  For all the carpenter knew, she could’ve made friends with the spiders or the ants.  Or maybe she’d made the discovery all on her own and just said Lint was from a friend to play with him!  Not that she would do that right now, of course.

She ran a hand down the white fluff covering Lint’s body, and Lint watched her carefully.  Rose didn’t think it was too odd at all.  In fact, she quite liked the moth’s stare.  It felt warm.  Comforting, almost.

Then, Lint beat her wings once, twice, three times! and she flew up into the air!  Rose watched her with a grin, and after a little test flight, Lint returned.  Rose had packed her things while Lint took her test flight, just a little saddle pack that she could lay on Lint’s back.  Then she climbed on, holding on real tight with her legs while Lint began to lift off from the sill.

“You going to be alright with that thing?” the carpenter asked.  “You’re sure you won’t fall?”

“Lint’ll take care of me,” Rose said, rubbing a hand through Lint’s fluff.  “Won’t you flint?”

The moth gave a great nod.

Then Rose looked up at the carpenter.  “Thank you,” she said, “for taking care of me.”

And with that, she was off!  Rose only looked back once, and seeing the carpenter’s solemn form still standing in the window, watching her, she turned back, facing forward, and steeled herself for what was to come.

**Author's Note:**

> I know, Luisa isn't in this yet, but I expect her to show up eventually and for this to go in a Roisa direction at some point. As opposed to Luisa and the Fox, where I had a much better general idea of what I was doing, this one's a little more open-ended, and I'm okay with that. I like writing with fairy tales, and I like writing in this style. It's a nice change of pace from the other stuff, and it's heartening to write when I'm having a not good time.
> 
> So apologies that Luisa hasn't shown up yet, and I don't know when exactly she will, but I expect it in future chapters.


End file.
